[lmnop2]

Hi,

We have a cocaine-exposed baby. He has a lot of gas and seems to be more discontent than the typical baby. Has anyone else experienced this with a cocaine-exposed baby, and if so, any thing you found to help?

[dachshunds4you]

I have found mylicon to be the best for my drug exposed babies. It's usually found at Target near the infant section or sometimes where the pharmacy area is...it's over the counter, and recommended by my doctor. It's in a box about the size of the infant tylenol. Greenish blue packaging if I can remember correctly...it's been a while since I had a baby who needed it.

It's a dropper with a marking for 4 or 8 I think. It tells you which line to use for what age. I put the dropper full amount in each of their bottles for feeding every time. It works really really well. I didn't have any babies who would have gas issues once I used this.

Hope this works as well for you.

[Sooner]

I had good success with both Mylecon & Gripe Water(this one is harder to find but natural)

We were never sure if our little man was exposed, since they messed up his blood test in the hospital, but do know that was bmom's drug of choice. The pediatrition says that since cocaine goes out of the system so fast it doesn't cause all of the birth defects that other drugs do but does cause low birth weight & premies along with all of the side affects from that. Ours was born early, spent a week in NICU but only needed help with holding his own Oxygen, which wasn't near as bad as a lot of the other babies there. He did have gas BUT he is also allergic to milk & we ended up (after trying every other formula) on the hypoallergenic formula, so I attributed a lot of the gas & severe constipation on that.

[Mkap]

Our foster baby was cocaine exposed/tested positive at birth and was extremely colicky and sensitive. We used alimentum formula with the Playtex nursers to reduce gas intake. Also, a lifesaver IMO - Baby's Bliss gripe water sold at Walgreens. She also responded quite well, still does, to being swaddled, lots of swinging, and shhhh'ing sounds. Good luck!

[Boulderbabe]

My son was cocaine exposed, and REALLY gassy. We ended up taking him off a milk based formula and putting him on a soy based one. It helped a lot. I don't know if there's any relationship between cocaine exposure and lactose intolerance, but it worked for us.

[sheababy]

I never put the two together but DD was really gassy. We used the Little Tummies-worked great.

[excited2adoptsoon]

my baby was born on meth and she had major gas issues. Mylicon and gripe water never ever worked. We changed her formula 3 times. We are now on lacto free formula and she is doing wonderfully. I have a feeling she just needed to grow out of it. She grew out of it at about two months old. The pedi said their tummies are still growing which can cause it.

[Sooner]

OK now this is really interesting. W is truly allergic to milk, not lactose intolerant, he breaks out in major hives with any milk product. He is now 2 1/2 & we thought he was starting to grow out of it but had a reaction lately to the cheese flavoring on pringles so we have backed off again hoping he will still grow out of it. This sparks a lot of questions for me now.

[mommytoEli]

i have never heard of exposure and gas being related...but my first kid was and was gassy and fussy...but it turned out to be a milk allergy....he ended up on nutramigen after we ran the gamet of formulas...and after that last switch..times were good. talk to the baby's doctor, he may suggest a formula change. i also a gree with the mylicon drops! they seem to help. my favorite part about switching to nutramigen was that it was not covered by his WIC, so his state medical had to pay for it, and it got shipped to our door...every month there was the new monthly supply waiting for me on my porch! lol.

[DannieAS]

Originally Posted by Sooner

OK now this is really interesting. W is truly allergic to milk, not lactose intolerant, he breaks out in major hives with any milk product. He is now 2 1/2 & we thought he was starting to grow out of it but had a reaction lately to the cheese flavoring on pringles so we have backed off again hoping he will still grow out of it. This sparks a lot of questions for me now.

could be or could not be exposed....I heard in my classes that there is some correlation, however, I was not exposed at all and I had dairy allergies til puberty and then become lactose intolerant....

[Sooner]

Very interesting. Hard to tell if there is a connection but really strange to see so many exposed children have milk related issues. We used Nutramigen too & was very thankful for WIC but here in OK we had to get a Dr request for them to pay for it. That stuff is double the price of other formulas but so worth it. I remember the day I made the switch his whole body relaxed, it was so obvious it helped. We tried soy formula too which he didn't do well on either BUT he drinks soy milk now like it's going out of style.

[hubbyswife]

My now DS was exposed to cocaine during utero and after he was born.... he had an upset tummy... prob due to gas/indisgestion.... we used chamomille tea (sorry i didnt spell it right).... that seemed to help him.....

[faithlovehope09]

My FD was exposed to cocaine, methodone, and heroin and had a tremendous amount of gas once we got her home from nicu. The nurses were so helpful with DH and I and informed us that the Dr put her on Similac Isomil Advanced which is a soy based formula and helps with gas and fussyness. They also told us she needed to be swaddled constantly snug around the waist and keep her arms out because the exposed babies like to touch their face a lot and also swore by the pacifier helping with gas. With all of these things combined, she seems to have less gas and we make sure that we burp her often during her bottle and afterwards. Good luck to you~~

[takingtheplunge]

I don't think there is nec. a correlation between meth/cocaine and gas perse or it would be common knowledge by now.
A lot of babies are gassy.

I do think that more foster kids will have probs in general due to poor nutrition in utero. Also consider that they have to rely on formula through WIC-- not breast milk.

I found the powdered formulas cause more tummy probs than the ready-made and/or concentrates. Now that mine's over 6 month she can drink any formula but as an infant the ready mades worked better. They mixed better. I don't know what your experience is, but similac and enfamil powder do not mix easily. It requires vigorous shaking and/or wisking if making a batch which creates bubbles. Bubbles=gas. Then if the batch sits in the refrig for a couple hours, it settles slightly and gunk is at the bottom, requiring more shaking. It also tastes grainier than the ready made and concentrates.

Day care providers tell me Good Start creates less gas than the other powdered types. I assume since most of us get WIC for our FC, we are stick with Enfamil or Similac -- whatever our state sponsors.

I had WIC give me the liquid concentrate of enfamil and used bottled water. That worked out well. Then I discovered the lining in the can of concentrate contains more BPA (harmful chems) than powdered cans or ready made plastic bottles. Given that, I then paid out of pocket for Similac's ready made. It worked out fine. When she got over 15 pounds, I then switched back to powdered and she's more tolerant of the bubbles and graininess.

Even though our FD was exposed to meth and other stuff, she only spit up four times in infacy and she hardly ever cried from an upset stomach (dream baby). She was quite prolific with the morning farts, though -- louder than my husband. : )

[AmahMama]

I have no idea what the stats are but as a fp of over 10 years and 60+ babies - most exposed babies have tummy issues. Not all infants with tummy issues are exposed babies tho'!!

We have found that:
Holding the infant in a little more of an upright position when feeding and hold that way for a bit afterwards

Swaddle cozily - more snuggly around tummy- like a girdle or brace - for some reason the pressure seems to help them. And it is taught in med/frag classes to swaddle infants

Keep socks on their feet - no clue why this helps - but it has in most cases.

Premix seems to be richer and cause more gas - so I use powder but I stir it with a little whip that I have - I do not shake it. I do not stir hard enough to put bubbles in it.

Reflux and gas/colic are 2 separate issues. Reflux (spitting up a lot) needs to have smaller measured feedings. If baby is refluxing try about 1/4 oz less in the bottle. I like the curved bottles (I think they are Playtex) better all the time!!

The Gripe water works well - after all else had been tried. Dr. says not to give new infants water....

Those are my tips - after this has been tried - baby goes on DH's belly in the recliner so that baby can lay on belly and relax (still swaddled).

Good luck.